


Subito

by orphan_account



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-27
Updated: 2015-10-27
Packaged: 2018-04-28 10:19:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5086747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce finds Jason when he was resurrected and brings him home, makes him Robin again. So... Where does that leave Tim?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Subito

_Gotham._

It was just another place to Tim at this point. He had no more family, no more friends, no more reason to call this place home. Now it was just another place he was passing through while following up on a lead about an international drug ring.

Tim sighed as he stared out the dirty window of the abandoned building he was hiding out in, waiting for his tip to pull through for him. Just as he was about to give up for the night, two groups of armored vehicles pulled up along the street from opposite directions.

Without hesitation Tim pulled open the window and leaped out, the cool, Gotham breeze blowing his hair back. If the corners of his lips twitched up and his body felt light as air, like it always did when he was here, he didn’t have to admit it to anybody. (Including himself.)

He landed behind one of the vans silently, staff elongating in his hand smoothly. Moving quietly, lithely, Tim set to work on incapacitating all of the thugs. Half way through and still unnoticed he heard the telltale swish of a pair of capes from overhead.

Glancing towards the middle of the street all of the thugs and their leaders had their attention on the muscular man dressed like a bat and his brightly clad partner. Taking advantage of the distraction provided to him, Tim slipped into one of the vans, plugging a flash drive into a laptop he found in the front seat as the familiar sounds of a fight broke out.

 _Fists against bodies, bodies against the ground. A bright laugh. An approving nod._  Memories Tim had buried a long time ago tried to resurface, but he pushed them away. Buried them again for another time.

Tim tapped the laptop nervously, wanting to slip away before Bruce or Jason noticed him, if they hadn’t already, but he needed any intel he could get. He silently chastised himself. He had nothing to be nervous about. They wouldn’t attack him unless provoked, and they wouldn’t be able to say they hadn’t recognized him. Tim had left his mask behind.

If anything they should thank him for–

His thoughts came up short as the sliding door of the van was yanked open.

Bruce stopped at the sight of Tim, staring. Tim stared right back, holding his breath, waiting for Bruce to say something.  _Needed_  Bruce to say something first.

It wasn’t the first time Tim had seen Bruce since he’d had to leave. That’s why there wasn’t any surprise or shock on Bruce’s face. But it was the first time they’d been close enough to speak to each other.

“Whatch’ya got B?” Tim heard Jason ask, his voice deep and unfamiliar.

The laptop beeped, pulling Tim’s eyes away from Bruce’s so he could pull the flash drive out and slip into his belt, but in those few seconds he heard Bruce stepping back. Saw the movement out of the corner of his eye.

Tim almost wished they would have attacked him instead.

“No way,” he heard Jason breathe. Slowly he climbed his way out of the van, muscles taut and ready for a fight.

Keeping his breathing even Tim tried to slow his racing heart. Jason had no right to be so surprised. And _Bruce_  had no right to look so sad. Why couldn’t he be  _happy_  that Tim was here? That he was alive and well?

Jason was in his early twenties by now, but he was filling out to be strong and broad like Bruce was, taller than Tim. His body was slack in disbelief, face full of so many questions.

Bruce was stoic now, but he was still simply staring at Tim.

Finally, Tim gave in. Bruce was just going to disappoint him by either saying nothing or saying the words Tim didn’t want to hear.  _I’m sorry, Tim._

Tim swallowed and steadied his voice. “How’d you hear about this deal?”

Bruce swallowed thickly before answering. “Talia.”

Everything clicked into place and a new kind of anger rose up in Tim. Yes, he’d been angry with Bruce for a long time, but it was anger so old it had burned into his bones, kept him going when things got tough. But this? He was angry at  _himself_.

Talia knew everything that had happened between him and Bruce. Knew about how Bruce had betrayed him, shoved him out to make room for Jason in his life again. There was only room for one Robin, Tim knew that.

It had been why she’d agreed to train him in the ways of the League of Assassins in the first place. With a few other stipulations, of course, but those weren’t anything Tim couldn’t handle.

And Talia knew Tim had been back to Gotham, doing work, but she had never given him any kind of leads for any of his cases. He thought it had been suspicious, but took the informations from her anyway.

But Tim had allowed her to set him up for this. He’d let her shove him right back into the scope of the man who he wanted nothing to do with.

Scoffing lightly, Tim turned to leave. “Never gonna trust that woman again,” he said, mostly to himself.

“Tim, wait-” Jason started, cut off by Bruce’s brusque, “No, Robin.”

Tim didn’t get to hear the rest of their argument; he was already gone, blending into Gotham’s shadows.

–

Tim sat meditating in the morning sun streaming in through the windows of his hotel room, waiting for his phone to ring. He’d left Talia a message the night he’d left Gotham, already five days ago.  _Call me_ , was all he had said.

But Talia was someone who did things in her own time. So Tim had had no choice but to continue following leads while he waited for her to call.

The sun continued to warm his torso, his face, until it was too high in the sky. The room darkened and everything got cooler, but Tim was still impossibly warm, radiating heat from the inside out.

His phone finally rang. He answered and pressed it to his ear before the first ring even finished.

“Hello, Tim,” Talia’s voice danced through the phone, dangerously sweet.

“Why’d you do it, Talia?” Tim asked, his voice surprisingly even. He knew he had to keep it together. Any outbursts and she’d probably hang up on him, make him wait for his answers until the next time he came home to her.

“I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about,” she replied, sounding almost distracted, but Tim knew otherwise. He had her full attention; he was important to whatever she was planning.

“Why did you give Bruce the same tip as me?”  _Why did you hurt me this way?_

“Oh, that.” She sighed, almost sounding bored. “I have my reasons. Tell me, how are Bruce and Jason?”

Tim wasn’t surprised with the answer he got. He’d learned a long time ago how to play her game. But it didn’t mean he knew how to win. “I didn’t stick around to find out.”

“Pity…” Tim heard noises in the background, and a child’s voice but couldn’t make out the words. “Damian wants to know when you’re coming back for a visit.”

“Soon. In the next couple of weeks.” He said. A few more days and he’d be done with this job. He could stretch it out to a week maybe, but by that time he’d have to go back in for reports, no matter how much he didn’t want to see Talia.

The only reason he even went back anymore was for Damian.

“Good, we’ll see you then.” Talia said, and then the call ended.

Tim sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had a feeling his life was going to become very difficult in the next few weeks because of whatever ulterior motives Talia had.

–

The next time Tim found himself in Gotham it was two months after running into Bruce and Jason. He expected Bruce had all the cameras feeding into his computer and running facial recognition programs so he’d know the next time that Tim was in town. He wouldn’t have been surprised if Bruce knew when he boarded the plane on the other side of the world.

It was only ever work that brought him to Gotham, though. He had no business visiting anyone, and he didn’t owe Bruce any kind of greeting whenever he came into town. So he wasn’t surprised when he spotted the Dynamic Duo following him around at the beginning of each night he was there.

To Tim’s dismay this case was taking longer to close up than he liked, and every day he spent in Gotham was another day he felt like he was wringing his nerves dry. Sure, nothing had happened, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t expecting something to happen. Every time he caught sight of the pair he wondered  _Is this it?_

On the fourth night as it was getting close to daybreak, well after the time Batman usually ended his patrol, Tim noticed Jason following him. How he had gotten away from Bruce he couldn’t guess, but he knew he was being followed for a reason by the way Jason was attempting to catch up.

Tim finally stopped and let Jason catch up as the sky started to bleed reds and oranges, quickly dampening out any stars that could be seen through Gotham’s smog.

He wasn’t going to deal with this every time he was in Gotham. He’d let Jason say what he wanted, and then be done with it. Bruce would never bother with something like this; it seemed he aimed to disappoint.

When Jason finally joined him they stared at each other for a moment. He couldn’t help but notice how Jason moved so much like Bruce that someday it might be impossible to tell them apart in the Batman suit. Tim wondered how jealous Damian would be. The kid idolized the picture of Bruce that Talia had painted for him. It only made Tim worry more.

“What do you want, Jason?” Tim finally said, sick of how nobody ever seemed to want to start a conversation. Staring at each other wasn’t going to get either of them anywhere.

“Bruce misses you.” Jason said sincerely.

It definitely caught Tim off guard. He’d been expecting an apology of sorts, but not this.  _Because it wasn’t true_.

“How can he miss me when he has you?” Tim returned, trying hard to keep the sneer off of his face and the venom out of his voice.

Tim had never been mad at Jason. Envied him, yes, but he didn’t deserve Tim’s anger. It wasn’t his fault that Bruce made the choices he did. But that could all change if he was going to lie to him.

“Because we’re not the same person, Tim.” Jason said, and Tim could see on his face that Jason knew he had a limited amount of time to talk before Tim left. “Alfred and Dick, they miss you too.”

Tim swallowed, not sure what to say. Not sure why he was still standing here at all. If he was honest, he hadn’t given either of them much thought over the years. When he did allow himself to think about them it was nothing but good things. Things almost good enough to make him regret what had happened.

“Alf dropped  _a whole tea tray_  when I told him about you,” Jason went on, a smile playing at his lips at the memory. “And Dick actually stopped talking for ten whole minutes when he first heard.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Tim asked, keeping his face blank, despite the sudden, confusing turmoil behind his mask.

“I want to fix this.” Jason said earnestly, so much so it surprised Tim. Almost had him hooked. But it wasn’t enough.

Tim turned, turned away from what Jason was offering. Turned away before he could delude himself into believing everything could be okay.  “It’s not something you can fix,” he said before stepping off the side of the building, grappling hook in hand.

“We both know B is too stubborn to do it himself!” Jason yelled after him, but didn’t follow him this time.

Tim shook his head as he took in the sunrise between the buildings, light and warmth leaking through Gotham’s fingers, leaking into Tim. He was surprised to find a smile on his face.

–

“You want me to  _what_?” Tim sputtered. He couldn’t have heard Talia correctly.

“I want you to take Damian to his father and leave him in his care.” She repeated.

Tim stared at her. He wasn’t sure who to be angry at here anymore, himself or her. Talia almost seemed like the better option here, seeing as how it was her who kept forcing him to see Bruce.

“And what if I say no?” Tim tried. He knew it would be pointless, he owed Talia too much, but he had to try for Damian.

“You and I both know you won’t,” she said, looking at him with an amused twinkle in her eyes. “Besides, Damian was the one who requested that you be the one to deliver him to his father.”

“Why me?” Tim asked, surprised that Damian had chosen him over Talia.

Talia studied Tim for so long he wondered if she had heard him. “You are his closest friend, his brother, in a sense. Besides, I’m sure he wants to ask you things about Bruce he couldn’t ask me.”

Tim let her answer sink in. The idea of talking about Bruce on a long flight where Damian would have plenty of opportunities to repeatedly bring up the subject was not a pleasant one for Tim. “Fine, I’ll do it. When do we leave?”

“In a few hours.”

–

Talia spared nothing when it came to Damian. Which is why Tim was looking at him directly across the aisle, in a giant, fancy, jet as the boy asked him questions as his mother had predicted.

_What is my father like? What about Jason? Is there anyone else in the manor?_

“What will Father think of me?” Damian asked him. The question nearly threw Tim off.

Tim debated lying to him. Lie to protect him from the real disappointment that was Bruce Wayne. Lie to get him to change his mind, to go back  _home_ , to his mother. Not that Tim really thought she was any better for him, but she was better than Bruce.

“He’ll probably be extremely confused at first. And then he won’t know how to act or what to say. It’ll probably be difficult for awhile. But once he gets to know you I’m sure he’ll be very proud of you.” Tim told Damian honestly. It was clear he wanted Bruce’s approval, craved it. Tim could sympathize.

But Tim knew Bruce better than he knew himself. Damian was a bright, hardworking kid. He was going to do just fine. Had it been anyone else the thought would have left a pang of jealousy in Tim’s gut, but he had nothing but pride for the boy Damian had grown into.

“What happened between you and Father?” Damian asked, obviously satisfied with Tim’s answer if he was moving on already.

Tim sighed and averted his gaze out of the window of their private jet. He didn’t answer right away, and he could feel the boy’s eyes on him. Sharp, analyzing, trying to understand what made Tim hate his father so much.

“I was replaceable. Bruce decided he didn’t need me anymore, so he pushed me out.” Tim answered as succinctly as possible. He wasn’t entirely sure how Bruce would take to Damian, but he did know that Bruce would have some sense of responsibility for him. More than he had for Tim, anyway. “But that doesn’t matter anymore.”

Damian didn’t ask any more questions after that.

–

Tim dropped the large, brass knocker against the manor’s front door three times. He glanced down at Damian on his left who was staring at the door. Tim wondered if he was as nervous as he was.

The door opened to reveal Alfred standing on the other side. “Hello, how may… Master Timothy?” The butler said, the look on his face going from surprised to elated tugged at Tim’s heartstrings.

“Alfred.” Tim greeted, staying as impersonal as possible. It was the only way he was going to get out of this quickly. “Bruce around?”

“In his study. Who is your young friend?” Alfred asked as he ushered them inside.

“This is Damian… I’ll let Bruce explain it to you later.” Tim said, putting a hand on Damian’s shoulder and leading him towards Bruce study. He ignored how it felt like slipping on an old comfortable sweater when he walked through the doors.

–

Tim sat in one of the armchairs across from Bruce’s desk while Damian occupied the other. This had taken a lot longer than Tim had hoped it would. Bruce had a ridiculous amount of questions.

Granted, it was kind of jarring to have someone walk in with a ten year old boy and say  _This is your son, Damian._

“And now Talia is just… giving him to me? After ten years of not even knowing he existed?” Bruce asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“There’s stuff going on in the League of Assassins right now, and she’s not sure it’s entirely safe for him to be there right now. Plus, he also wanted to come.” Tim said, watching as Bruce looked over and regarded Damian again. He could see Damian out of the corner of his eye. He had hardly moved in the few hours that they’d been there, putting on a strong face, Tim was sure.

“Okay.” Bruce said. “And I’m guessing you will not be bringing him back with you under any circumstances?”

Tim nodded, hoping he could make a break for freedom soon. The sooner he was out of the manor the better. He didn’t want the subject of their conversation to leave Damian. It was already strange enough having to force himself to talk to Bruce in a civil manner. Talia may have ordered it, but he did it for Damian. He wanted to leave on as positive of a note as possible.

“You are welcome to be here, if it’s what you really want, Damian.” Bruce said, trying to give Damian a choice.

“It is,” Damian replied.

“I guess that settles it.” Bruce said, standing up from his chair. Looking at Tim he shifted uncomfortably. “You’re… welcome to stay for dinner if you like, Tim.”

“That’s alright, I’ll be leaving.” Tim said, standing and turning towards Damian.

The boy stood and faced Tim. “Thank you for accompanying me on my trip, Drake.”

“You’re welcome, Damian. I’ll be in town for a couple of days. You know how to reach me if you ever need anything.”

Damian nodded and Tim turned without looking at Bruce. Walked out the door without another word to anyone in the manor.

When he stepped outside he let out a deep sigh. Something in him ached, but he was sure it was just leaving Damian behind that bothered him.

As he started down the stairs he nearly walked into Jason.

“Sorry–wait,  _Tim?_ ” Jason asked, astonished.

“That is my name.” He answered, stepping around Jason and heading down the stairs.

“Wait,  _wait_ ,” Jason said, grabbing Tim’s arm. “What are you doing here?”

Tim wasn’t sure why he let himself be stopped by Jason. He could have pulled out of his grip and kept walking, not bothering to answer his questions. He’d done enough of that today.

“You’ll find out as soon as you go inside.” Tim said, waiting for Jason to let go, his fingers warm through the cotton of his shirt.

“You don’t wanna stay for dinner?”

“No.” Tim replied flatly.

“Not even for Alfred’s cooking?” Jason asked, and when Tim looked over his shoulder the older man had an eyebrow cocked at him.

Tim would have done almost anything to see Alfred again, to eat his food again. Unfortunately, dealing with Bruce any more today was not one of those things. He needed to blow off steam and hit something. There was too much he needed to figure out.

“I’ve got work to do.” He told Jason, and it was enough so that he finally let go of Tim’s arm.

Tim walked down the steps and to the car that was waiting for him, not looking back at the manor or Jason once.


End file.
